Judge Tries to Defend Boy Being Abused, Ends Up In Hospital

Associate Judge Elizabeth Rochford who serves the Lake County area in Wisconsin was riding a Union Pacific North train, when she came across a situation she knew she needed to help. A woman, Elizabeth M. Pope, 33, was riding home on the train with her 14-year-old son whom she was yelling at. As the ride progressed, Pope began to curse at him, and call him an idiot, emotionally abusing the young boy.

Rochford could not just sit by and watch as this unfolded, so she turned to the boy and told him “You are not an idiot.” That enraged Pope, who, smelling of alcohol, approached Rochford and told her not to talk to her son before she began beating her. Pope punched Rochford multiple times and beat her in the face with a cell phone before throwing that down the train. Rochford then begged a bystander to call the conductor as she lay there, bleeding.

Pope was arrested at the next stop, where she was charged with aggravated battery in a public place. Rochford was rushed to a local hospital, where she received five stitches as well as treatment for the bruising and swelling of her face. This isn’t Pope’s first battery case, however, as she has two previous convictions and even has a currently pending case. Pope is certainly one bad apple.